


Oh, This'll Be Fun

by Tartarusauce



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Child Abuse, Gen, Ghost Max, Ghosts, Will add more characters as story progresses - Freeform, dadvid, ghost!max, i dont like jasper but i needed my camp camp ghost fill, max haunts david because he thinks its funny, no i dont ship max and david, so none of that please, yeah he died
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-02 01:37:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16295813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tartarusauce/pseuds/Tartarusauce
Summary: Max really got his ass handed to him this time. Don't do drugs, kids. Or you'll end up as an abusive father that dumps his children in the middle of the woods while they're passed out. At least, that's what Max assumed is what happened. Now he's stuck wandering these fucking campgrounds again, in the thick of winter, and he has no idea how to get home. Maybe if he's lucky, David just straight up fucking lives at this camp, and he can go ask for help. What the fuck, man?





	1. Christmas Lights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's just a short prologue of sorts. I haven't really decided where I wanna go with this story yet, and tbh I'm open to ideas. It's just something I'll work on when I'm bored and have the inspiration, so no promise of a reasonable posting schedule. I wanted to read a ghost max fanfiction, and I couldn't find any, so I'm making one. I'm not a writer, so excuse everything that comes. Hope you enjoy.

_God, it hurts, I can’t move..._  
_I don’t want to be here anymore._  
_I’d rather live the rest of my life around dumbass David if it meant getting away from this shit._  
_At least I was safe th-_

* * *

The glaring blue and red lights flashed through the crisp winter air, bouncing off the falling snowflakes, making the icy landscape shimmer like colorful glitter. Sirens could still be heard blaring a few blocks away from the small city park. Whether they were related to this case or not was a question that was difficult to answer. There was always a mugger, robber, or tax evader to find in the typical cityscape. Who knows what adventure those cruisers would find themselves in at 2 in the morning.

You couldn’t say the officers were much too pleased to be out and about just a couple of hours into Christmas day. And for something like this? It was just depressing. Most of these officers had to be called from their homes and their beds and their families to come out here and sit around while the investigators – albeit in a much similar 2am-just-woke-up-mood – got to at least do their job. Not like the average policemen even wanted to approach that… mess. The body looked bad enough as it was, but to make matters worse, someone left a hefty pool of vomit right next to it. It had nasty red chunks of undigested ham, and probably lots of cranberry sauce. It seemed the person who found the body certainly wasn’t too excited about it. Now they probably had to deal with months of court as well, just to testify. And what of the family…

A middle-aged female officer stood there, watching the scene with a sideways glance. The investigators worked quickly and intelligently, murmuring things amongst themselves, writing a ton of bullshit down on clipboards. Someone was going around putting down a bunch of numbered evidence labels on things she wouldn’t have even considered evidence herself. Footprints on the sidewalk that she could hardly see herself, the steaming mass of stomach contents, some left behind spork from KFC that probably had nothing to do with this. She doubted the murder happened here. It was probably just dumped here after the deed was done. That was the usual story. She’s seen it half a dozen or more times by now.

Though she couldn’t help but admit that this one was especially hard to look at. She’s seen stab victims before, gunshot wounds littering a body, but this? This was cruel. Whoever did this was some sort of sick bastard. This poor child probably hasn’t even seen middle school yet.

The investigators fluttered around the victim’s corpse, snapping photos and making observations. When she could see past their impatient bodies, the officer let herself take a good long look. She forced back the urge to cringe. The body itself was still intact, for the most part, save for a severely dislocated arm. She wasn’t sure if the eyes were gouged out, or just covered in too much blood. She wasn’t close enough to make that distinction, but neither option was preferable. She sighed to herself and looked away again. There were too many cuts and marks, and so much blood. Her ears picked up a few words here and there from the investigators, mentioning burn marks covering the body, a couple noticeable gunshot wounds in the legs, and lots of welts all over. Marks from being hit repeatedly.

It may have made her nauseous, but she didn’t want to shield herself from reality. At least she didn’t have to go poking and prodding the little guy, unlike those unlucky fellows over there. The poor thing… this sounded like another case of child abuse. Probably neglect too, if you follow the usual pattern. She fantasized that maybe they killed him before brutalizing his body. She hoped he had a quick end, so he didn’t have to suffer everything else. What a twisted day it is when that’s something you actually have to wish for. What the fuck was wrong with her. No, what the fuck was wrong with people? Someone did this to another human being, without remorse, without holding back. What a fucked up, shithole world we lived in. And she couldn’t do a damned thing to change it.

* * *

Max woke up the next morning with a massive headache. He felt really disoriented and needed a few minutes for his mind to adjust. Vaguely he recalled some events from the night prior, but it was really foggy. Most of what he remembers is the herculean desire to just _get away_. He was pretty certain he was being attacked? Probably by his father again. Which is odd, because aside from his pounding migraine, Max felt quite alright. But he could have sworn he remembered the belt. And the old man looking for his little bedside pistol. Bedside meaning next to the couch. Same place he kept all his empty beer cans. That pistol… did he see the man aim? He was almost certain he remembered facing that gun. Wasn’t there a loud-

“AAUuughhh ow ow ouch, motherFUCKER!” Max continued to hiss air through his clenched teeth as he gripped his skull. Trying to think about whatever the fuck happened last night was too much effort. It hurt his brain like a bitch. Not just in the metaphorical way like anytime Neil tried to explain one of his nerd science theories. It felt like his goddamn head was going to explode.

Not like he cared enough to want to try remembering again anyways. Wasn’t the first time the old man beat the shit out of him. It was a holiday thing. His “parents” usually got hopped up on some drug or another to help them celebrate, and that typically ended up with Max being used as a fun toy to screw around with. Most of the time his mother watched while the man whipped him with a belt. That’s something he’d grown accustomed to over the past few years. But… sometimes it wasn’t always like that. Nothing was worse than the time his father decided to try having a little more “fun” than usual. The piece of shit was high and drunk off his ass. He forced Max’s face into the mattress, and he started unbuckling his own pants-

Another sharp pain bombarded the child’s skull. He cried out again, then held his breath, waiting a few moments for the wave to pass. Goddamn. Not like he really wanted to think about it anyways. What he should be more worried about now was his dad’s hangover period. He had to find a way to sneak out of that house without getting the attention of those two little whores.

 _But… what? Wait._ That was odd. Max took some time to take in his surroundings. He… wasn’t in his bedroom? He wasn’t in his house at all. He… Hm. The boy sat up all the way, rubbed his eyes, and stared ahead of himself in confusion.

“Well how the fuck did I end up here?”


	2. A Flock of Crows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome Max to his new (after)life.

Max’s parents picked him up 3 days late when summer camp ended.

Or rather, his mother did. David remembered that week very clearly. And the week before. And the week before that. Golly, he loved his camp. He wouldn’t forget even a moment of those wonderful 3 months if he was able. But… that last week wasn’t as happy as the rest.

This went for all of his campers, not just Max. Most of them seemed to sulk for the last few days of activities. The air was starting to get a bit chillier, and the kids all knew that they’d have to go back to their boring city homes and return to school. As fun as he found learning, David knew a plain ol’ school had nothing on his wildlife learning expeditions. Everyone loved those! They were his specialty, and he made sure to put in extra care and effort those days to make it as fun as possible for all of his campers! How could they go back and enjoy school when their counselor did such a better job at it? It made David so touched that the kids adored Camp Campbell so much. Maybe even almost as much as he did! _“You wish,”_ Gwen told him one day when he tried to express this to her. Oh, he missed them so dearly. Their sad and irritated grumbles on the last day were almost as loud as they were during his wildlife expeditions.

He was more surprised, however, when he’d found Max joining in on the somber pouty-face party. After all those weeks, even with the short, touching, tear-jerker moments when Max _finally_ shared his emotions with David, the man was still sure the little muffin would be itching to get back home. He’d gone through all that effort of those countless escape attempts after all. He really admired the child’s ingenuity and complex contraptions he came up with, but it still broke his heart a little bit every time. He always wanted to be able to show Max how beautiful camping could be.

David had sidled up to Max, standing near a sad Neil and a still quite rambunctious Nikki. She was busy stalking Space Kid like prey again. He’d bother to stop her, but Space Kid’s helmet should protect him from rabies anyway. “What’s the matter, kiddo,” he greeted Max, crouching down to his level. “Are you sad that you won’t get to sleep and wake up to your _favorite_ camp counselor anymore?” David was only half-teasing, adopting a sad smile on his face.

Max bored hardened eyes into David’s and shuddered a little bit. “Okay first of all, that didn’t sound right _at all_ , please never say that again.” David’s heart warmed at his use of ‘please’. “Second, Gwen always sleeps in an hour late. If anything, she’s waking up to _us_.”

David faked an exaggerated pout, and dramatically waved the back of his hand in front of his forehead. Okay, he only half-faked it. Maybe it was real. “Oh, Max, I know I’m secretly your favorite,” he teased. Max didn’t say anything. “Right?” The boy sighed and glanced back away to stare at nothing while they waited for Quartermaster to show up with the bus. David hated to see Max like this. He was supposed to be scheming something sinister right now, plotting some last-minute prank to play on him and give him another broken finger or permanent scar. That’s what he should be doing. But instead, Max was just… down. And David wished he could find out why.

“Really, Max, are you alright? If you’re feeling sick or anything, I can run and grab some ibuprof-“

“I’m fine, David. Just leave me alone, will you?” The child sunk into himself a bit more after he finished speaking. David felt his heart sink with him. Neil just glanced nervously between them.

It sunk even more when they got to the bus stop. They spent an hour there, the first 10 minutes dedicated to waving goodbye to all of the campers as they left with their families in their vehicles.

The next 50 minutes were waiting for Max’s ride to show up.

And again the next day.

By the time they got back on the bus to ride back to camp for the second time, Gwen decided to hang back. “I scheduled another semester this year, I can’t hang around forever waiting for Max’s parents. I already called up a friend, she’ll be here to get me soon.” She waved them off as she remained sitting at the bus stop bench. “I trust you can take care of it, David.”

“Of course,” he responded in earnest. He’d wait with Max till the snows buried him if he had to. That would be a bit impractical, though. “C’mon Max, let’s go back. We can try again tomorrow-”

“They’re not coming, David.” Max still wasn’t looking at him. “Remember? They don’t care about me.”

Now that just broke David’s fragile little heart. “Max… Of course they do. You’re one of the most amazing kids I’ve ever met. Excuse my language, but they’d have to be pretty gosh darn _stupid_ not to see how smart and quick-witted you are.” David’s eyes were glistening with pride as he looked down at Max with a clenched fist. Max continued to stare at the ground. Poor little guy.

“They must be ‘gosh darn stupid’ then. Just send me to child services already.” If only David knew how much Max really meant that.

David opened his mouth to respond but couldn’t find anything to say. He just sighed quietly and slouched over a little. He wanted to do something for Max, but he knew he was probably just being melodramatic. But it still hurt to see his favorite camper in such a bad mood. If he picked favorites, that is. Which he didn’t, he loved them all equally. Perfect little saplings.

So David searched through his call history that night. Max may not have had contact information written on his form, but one of his parents had to have made the call to sign him up.

5 rings.

Someone picked up. He heard some rustling for a moment before a gruff man responded, “Gh… Hello? Who is this?”

David was relieved. “Hello, sir! Is this Max’s father I’m speaking to?”

“Eh, you could call it that, yeah. Why, something happen to ‘im?” The counselor picked up uninterested tones in his voice, but he carried on.

“Oh, great! No, Max is in good shape sir, no need to worry. I’m a camp counselor from the wonderful Camp Campbell, and I just wanted to check in to remind you that our campers are due to be picked up to go back home.”

“Ugh, that time already?” David tried to retain his smile.

“Yes indeed! If someone could swing by at noon tomorrow to pick him up, that would be just dandy.” He decided not to mention the pickup date was two days ago.

The man took a moment to reply, shouting something unintelligible in the background. A few seconds later he spoke into the phone again, “Yeah, sure whatever.”

“Great! And thanks again for signing up your child for our camp this summer. Come back again next year! And Campe Diem!” There was no reply. Max’s father hung up already.

The next day, Max was genuinely surprised to see a car pull up to the stop. Albeit 30 minutes late. David thought he saw the boy shudder, but he knew how chilly it was getting outside. Fall was almost here after all.

He sure hoped he would come back again next summer.

* * *

Max flopped down on his back, his hands covering his face as he groaned. His parents finally gave up on him. They knocked him out, or waited for him to fall asleep, and they fucking dropped him off in the middle of the most remote woods they could find. They finally got sick of him enough. He should call it a blessing really, but he was going to freeze to death in this shitty ass weather. Couldn’t they have just _not_ come for him at the end of summer if they really wanted him gone? The snow didn’t seem to bother him right now, but he supposed it was pretty sunny out. It would get cold at night though, and Max still wanted to live long enough to see his parents’ graves. But not a moment past.

Of course they’d send him back here. It was the only place they could leave him where he couldn’t come crawling back. He was sure those fuckers enjoyed those 3 months of summer free from their disappointment, and he bet they were missing it. Though he’d never admit it, Max missed it too. But he didn’t want to be back here, _alone_ , at the _fucking end of December._ For fuck’s sake, this shithole was on the edge of Canada. David’s hair is shaped like a goddamn Canadian maple leaf. Honestly it should be snowing here year-round.

Rocking forward from his back, Max used his momentum to stand up all the way. He was only a few meters away from a familiar trail. It was a well-worn path, recognizable even through the snow sheet, one that David always forced the campers to walk through when he wanted to talk about nature and shit. He might as well follow that back and hope the cabin door was unlocked. Hell, maybe David hibernated here like a fucking bear. He seemed to think he was “one with the forest” already. Psycho. Maybe then he’d at least have a phone to call. He’d never call his parents, but he was sure the police could find some long-lost aunt or something on his record to send him to.

He’d always been afraid of being a foster kid. So he always took his chances with the parents he could predict, rather than getting stuck with some lunatic serial killer he wasn’t used to kiting around. But he didn’t have that option anymore. Max bit his cheek to keep himself from thinking about it too hard.

Having a home was better than being alone in the forest forever, tho. No matter how much that bat-shit crazy counselor would disagree. So, he would find David, and he’d find his phone. Wishful thinking, but it’s the only reason he’d be hoping David was still here. He didn’t miss him, and he definitely wasn’t lonely _nor_ scared. Max could take care of himself. Even if David wasn’t here, he was sure there was a landline phone in Quartermaster’s cabin or something.

* * *

Turns out that David _did_ just live in Sleepy Peak year-round. Sure enough, when Max reached the counselor’s cabin almost half an hour later, there he was, stepping out of his car with a package in his hands. He didn’t understand how that nutcase could stand living in the woods his whole life. What the fuck did he _do_ here all the time? For all he knew, the man was a crazy axe murderer with a child complex who stayed here to keep off the grid. Perhaps that’s what he’d think if he didn’t know any better. Unfortunately for Max, he could say for certain that he was just that fucking attracted to nature. He’s probably jizzed his pants thinking about trees before.

Max made his way towards the crazy forest man. He immediately decided it would be a great idea to sneak up and scare the shit out of him, so he tried to make his approach as quiet as possible. That ended up not requiring much effort at all. In fact, the snow muffled his footsteps so much, they were inaudible even if he _didn’t_ tiptoe his way over. He actually seemed to be walking right on top of the powder. Hm. Must have been a pretty solid icy crust to hold his weight up.

Regardless, he was nearing his target. David was distracted while he dug around for the cabin key in his pocket. Max was drawing ever closer, one foot in front of the other until he was just a meter away. Then, he shouted as booming as his lungs would allow.

“HEY FUCKFACE, MISS ME?”

For a breath, everything went still. Max could hear a murder of crows ruffling and cawing in some nearby treetops, some flying to neighboring trees, slightly disturbed by the outburst. David paused, key in hand, and turned around. Max was ready to see the look on his face when he… uh…

David was shielding his eyes from the sun, looking skywards to observe the birds’ commotion. “Huh. Those wolves must be back again already. Little rascals, always causing trouble. I’ll have to mark that down for the census later,” he mumbled to himself.

“Wolves? What the fuck, David? Have you gone deaf or what?” Max was genuinely upset that he didn’t get the jump on David like he wanted. The bitch probably saw him coming ahead of time. Aaaand now he’s started humming some obscure song, too, while going back to the task of unlocking the door. It almost felt like he was intentionally blocking him out. “David? Helloooo?” He started waving his hands around, jumping in front of the man, and getting increasingly frustrated. David managed to get the door open, and he hauled his Christmas-wrapped package inside with him. Max stomped in behind him, the counselor setting the box down before returning to shut the door.

“Hey, don’t ignore me David, you cunt.” He would have expected the lanky stick to have told him off for his language by now. “Shitstain. Fuckface. David. Asswad. I’m gonna start running out of insults here.” Nothing. Either David’s delusional, purposely blocking out Max as a joke, or he’s pulling a Helen Keller.

“Aww, Sal made me some snickerdoodles~” David already had his present open. He snatched up one of the cookies from the box and took a bite. “Mm, and they taste just like the batch I made for him last week! What a talented baker that man is. I should send him another gift for New Years’.” Max sighed. What a moron.

“Well, David, if you’re just gonna ignore me all day, I’m just gonna take your phone and do what I need to do.” What _did_ he need to do though? He wasn’t sure he even knew where he should go from here. He’d just been abandoned, and now he’s in the asscrack of nowhere. What does a kid do about this? It didn’t seem like David would be all too willing to help him at the moment, and calling the police about this frightened him, to be frank.

Speaking of David’s phone, it just started ringing. The redhead perked up and dug it out of his pocket.

He swiped the icon on his cell to answer. “Hey there Gwen!” he greeted exuberantly around a snickerdoodle. He finished swallowing the rest of his cookie before continuing. “I never expected to get a call from you this time of year. Are you having a Merry…” Max watched David’s bright smile morph into a quizzical look when Gwen interrupted his greeting. A few seconds pass. “What? What do you mean? You know there’s no cable out here.” Another moment’s pause. The man’s face seemed to bleach a little, and his smile turned into something more nervous. “You know I don’t like jokes like that, Gwen.” Max stepped a bit closer out of curiosity, and he could just make out the other end of the call. Maybe he could get some blackmail material.

“I’m not lying, David. I just saw this on the news this morning.”

“But you never watch the news…”

“My roommate had it on and—well that’s not important. Just… here, I’ll send you a link. I know he was your favorite, and-“

“I don’t pick favorites, Gwen.” His response was immediate, but his tone was strained and clipped. Max glanced up at his face nervously. This was an emotion he’d never seen from David before.

Gwen seemed to pause, and her voice got softer. She sounded exhausted. “I know, David.” The man swallowed. “Here, I’m sending you the link in a text now.” A couple seconds passed before his phone buzzed in his hand. “I’m sorry,” she sighed. “Call me back if you wanna talk about it.” She hung up. David didn’t move for a while. He stood there with his phone still up to his ear, and an unreadable expression.

About a minute and a half passed before the lanky man broke out of his stupor. He sat down at his desk, seemingly a little shaken, and hesitated when going to unlock his phone.

“David?” Max didn’t quite know what was going on, but he was getting a little worried for David’s sake. Not that he cared, but it was weird seeing him like this.

David twitched a little as if he heard Max, but didn’t give any sort of acknowledgement past that. Finally unlocking his phone and opening his messages, he took an exaggerated breath. “This better be a meme, Gwen.” His denial – or was it hope? – made his composure just a bit stronger.

The link in his conversation with his co-counselor took him to an article from a local news website. As Max peeked around David, he watched the man click the fullscreen button on an embedded video. Seems like he didn’t want to read the article first.

Audio cut in abruptly. _“-a very disturbing story today indeed. Local businessowner George here got a sour surprise this Christmas morning. Please tell our viewers what happened earlier today, George.”_

 _“Well, Linda, I was just steppin’ outta ma shop for a late-night smoke. Was about one in the mornin’. I was busy makin’ another batch o’ gingerbreads for ma kids, and y’know, makin’ sure they weren’t tryna sneak up to see Santa. You know how kids are…”_ David gave a brief smile, though only for a moment. _“Anyways, I come outside ‘n light one up, ‘n then I see a li’l boy hunched over in them bushes at the edge o’ the park. I thought, maybe he was lost ‘n cold, and I went ‘n grabbed a fresh gingerbread man from ma cookie sheet for ‘im. But when I got there, he… Well it just wasn’t right. He was all kinds o’ messed up. I upchucked ma Christmas Eve dinner right then ‘n there! I knew I shouldn’t have eaten all that cranberry sauce, Simmy told me it wouldn’t settle…”_

 _“Thank you, George, for sharing your story on this sorrowful morning,”_ the reporter continued. The image faded over to a blue screen with text and a picture on it that Max couldn’t quite make out from where he stood. But he really didn’t need to, because the reporter let him know just what him and David had been missing.

 _“According to witness and autopsy reports, the child who was brutally murdered early this morning is Max, a 10-year old boy whom locals vaguely recognize from around the city. Due to lack of further identification including surname details, police are still working to find who this boy is, and where his family lives. The murder suspects are still at large. If you have any information, please contact-”_ David closed the page. He turned off his phone, put it in his pocket, calmly stood up, opened the door, and left the cabin without a word. The crows’ calls grew louder in the treeline.

Max’s head started hurting again.


End file.
